Fugue
tagStarted c. 1600Peak 1650–1750Last big hit still active
Located in 1 route
Fugue is contrapuntal architecture built from a subject that enters successively in different voices and is then developed through imitation, inversion, stretto, and episodic working-out. In performance it sounds like thought made audible: one line starts the argument, then the room fills with pursuing, answering, and entwining voices.
History
Developing from ricercar, canzona, and imitative precedents, the fugue reached canonical stature in the Baroque, especially in Germany. Bach became its central touchstone, but fugue remained a living compositional discipline long after the Baroque, surviving as a formal ideal of craft in keyboard, organ, chamber, orchestral, and choral music.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Little Fugue in G minor — Helmut WalchaSpotifyYouTube
- The Art of Fugue Contrapunctus I — Gustav LeonhardtSpotifyYouTube
- Prelude and Fugue in A minor Fugue — Ton KoopmanSpotifyYouTube
- Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue Fugue — Trevor PinnockSpotifyYouTube
- Well-Tempered Clavier Book I Fugue No. 2 — Angela HewittSpotifyYouTube
- Well-Tempered Clavier Book I Fugue No. 1 — Glenn GouldSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Merriam-Webster, “Fugue” citeturn7search0
- Berliner Philharmoniker, “The fascinating world of the fugue” citeturn7search16
- Wikipedia, “Fugue” citeturn7search3